"So Cassandra," my therapist drawled in a bored fashion. "Tell me how this all started." He said in a tone that implied that he didn't really care. But he should since it's his job to help crazy people…like I was supposed to be.

I sighed miserably as I sat on the cold leather couch that matched the atmosphere of this stoically professional room. I felt terribly self-conscious to be strapped in a stiff strait jacket. I don't deserve this. I shouldn't even be here! I'm not crazy! I'm a normal teenager who likes listening to music and shopping at the mall with my friends. I wasn't popular at school or an outcast but somewhere in the middle. I didn't have a perfect life but I was happy with it. I shouldn't be here in this mental institution, locked away from the world.

"Miss Faye?" He coughed to get my attention. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about," I said firmly. "If I told you the truth you won't believe me like all the others. You'll just think I'm crazy too."

"You don't know that," he said as he turned to a fresh page in his notebook. "I've heard many cases throughout my time."

"You've never heard anything like mine," I said resolutely.

"Try me." He gently challenged as he looked at me over the top of his horn-rimmed glasses.

Fine, I'll prove it to him then. "I keep seeing characters from a Japanese anime called Naruto."

He paused for a moment. "I see," he said generically as he scribbled this on the paper. "Has this always been the case?"

I shook my head. "No, it started three weeks ago."

"What sparked the change? How did it start?"

How indeed. It's hard to think that my world could change so dramatically in just twenty-one days. "My best friend Marisol is a big anime fan and Naruto is her latest obsession. The rest of our friends like it so I was talked in watching it. From the very beginning I loved it."

I smiled to myself for a moment. It really was a great TV show. It had action, drama, and heartfelt moments. I sympathized with Naruto not fitting in. I've had this strange heart condition ever since I was a baby. It's always embarrassing whenever I have an episode followed by a panic attack. It was even worse when I was younger and growing up I wanted nothing more than to be normal too. I also liked Sasuke's strong purpose and sense of direction in life. He wasn't going to be a victim and would take destiny into his own hands. I admired that. I even liked Sakura's boldness even though she didn't seem to do much.

"And you liked it enough that you wanted it to be real?" He asked.

"What? No!" I snapped; annoyed at how he twisted my words around. Did he really think I was some kid who doesn't know the difference between fantasy and reality? I'm fifteen years old!

"My apologies then," he said flatly. Seriously was he this indifferent with the other patients? "Go on."

I frowned. I don't know why I'm wasting my time; he's not likely to believe me anyway. But it was better than spending the rest of my allotted time here in silence. "I just liked the show, that's all. And at first nothing unusual happened. It was when the Shippuden Season started that things changed."

"In what way?" He asked as he started to scribble down notes.

I suddenly found it difficult to swallow. My heart raced as I recalled the terrifying memory of that figure in the dark who watched me silently from the alleyway behind my house. I couldn't make him out but I'll never forget those eyes…those purple spiraled eyes. "I realized…that I was being followed."

"By a stalker?" He asked, for the first time his tone sounded genuinely curious.

I squirmed a little uncomfortably. "Sort of. At first it was like a shadow I'd see out of the corner of my eye. I'd turn to look and see no one there. But after a while…I saw him." He waited expectantly and I gulped. "It was Pein, the villain from the series."

His brow furrowed as he was clearly disappointed by my lack-luster answer. "So you think that a villain from a fictional TV show was stalking you?"

I bristled. "I know what it sounds like; you don't need to tell me. For a long time I figured that it was just my imagination playing tricks on me. After all I loved the show so I thought maybe I was becoming fan-girl fanatic about it. So I stopped watching and focused on other things." My gaze dropped to the floor as I sighed. "But I kept seeing him, watching me from the sidelines, nearly faded into the background. He was real. He was there."

I flinched as I heard his pen strokes from across the room as he wrote vigorously. It bothered me to be assessed like this. No doubt he was writing outrageous lies about how crazy he thought I was…and yet…I probably would draw the same conclusion too. If someone told me the same thing I'd think they had a screw loose too. "Did you tell anyone about this?"

"I told Jasper, he's my Uncle and guardian," I explained.

"And what did he do when you told him?"

"He figured that it was one of my guy friends playing a prank on me," I said with a rueful smile. My Uncle has cared for me ever since my parents died. He has no wife or children of his own. He's the ultimate bachelor but the best Uncle a kid could ever ask for. He took me in and we've had a blast ever since. I really miss him and look forward to his visit on Sunday. It's the only day we're allowed to have visitors. Marisol tried to see me too but I refused. I didn't want her to see me this way. I roused myself from these thoughts and continued on. "He was determined to catch the punk and knock some sense into him. So I'd always tell him whenever I saw Pein. That was when I realized that I was the only one who could see him," I said in a hushed tone as I remembered. Jasper stood right next to him and looked around blindly. "What are you talking about Cassie?" He called out. "I don't see anyone."

"He's right there! On your right!" I shouted down from my bedroom window as I pointed right at Pein.

Jasper turned to the right and reached out with his hand. I gasped as it went right through the silent man. I felt faint and gripped the windowsill to keep from falling out the window. Jasper looked at me worriedly. "There's no one here. You feeling ok?"

"But…he's…" I whispered as my voice died away. I was staring right at Pein and he stared right back. He was shoulder to shoulder with my Uncle. Why is it that I can see him but Jasper can't? Pein then narrowed his eyes shrewdly at me as his mouth tightened into a thin grim line and then he faded away.

And as weird as things had been up to that point, they worsened very quickly. Soon I saw others wearing Akatsuki robes, all unseen by the rest of the world. This time I kept it to myself. My Uncle was worried enough about me and my friends (apart from Marisol) thought I was making it up to get attention. So I lied and said the stalker had stopped. I kept my mouth shut about these new arrivals and turned the other cheek. Of course it bothered me that I couldn't explain these strange phenomenons but what could I do about it?

But soon these strange visitors started to cause trouble. It started out innocently enough, like tripping some passerby or knocking something out of their hand. They did it deliberately as they smirked at me, silently daring me to stop them. I'd flinch but did nothing. I've seen what these men were capable of on the show…I paled to think what destruction they could cause here on Earth. I didn't want to cross them. Also part of me wanted to believe that it was still just my imagination. But soon the pranks grew more malicious in nature and people were getting hurt. It was still done in a way that made it seem like an unfortunate accident but I knew the truth. They were harmed on purpose…just to rile me up, to provoke me to fight back. That made me so very angry. I couldn't let someone get hurt because of me so I intervened. Unfortunately by doing that the attack was timed so that it looked like I did it. Now the accident seemed intentional. It was terrible to be blamed and after each accident I'd swear to never be baited again. But the promise was broken time after time as I tried to save others from the unseen danger that lurked behind them. It completely ruined my reputation in my small hometown. I went from being considered a good kid to a felon-in-the-making. Jasper was at a loss to understand me, especially since I never explained myself. He would only think I was even crazier if I told him the truth. The final straw was a bomb that blew up part of my school, the materials were found inside my locker complete with a scribbled journal filled with insane babble and diabolical plans. That was all the proof that was needed to send me here to the nut house, locked away for forty-five years. This was the second week and I already I know I'll go crazy before the end of the sentence.

"What do you mean that you were the only one who saw this…cartoon stalker?" The therapist's voice broke into my terrible thoughts.

I looked at him dryly. "Exactly that. No one else saw him."

He then looked through my file. "The police reports gave numerous accounts of you attacking people. Was this your attempt to feel in control?"

I groaned in exasperation and slumped back against the couch. He then went on to theorize all sorts of explanations for my "irrational" behavior, even going so far as to blame my parents for dying when I was a toddler. Oh yeah, it's totally their fault, I thought sarcastically. They were hit by a drunk driver. Like they totally meant for that to happen. Forget this quack he wasn't listening to me anyway.

"No wonder everyone here is insane," a familiar voice said beside me. "I'd go crazy too if I had to listen to this guy, hm."

Blood drained from my face as I slowly looked to the right. Deidara was reclining causally beside me on the couch. He winked at me with a devious smirk and I quickly looked back at the therapist. This is bad…this is very bad! I have to stop it before something happens! "Doctor Hayes, I'm feeling a little tired. Can we stop and pick this up tomorrow?"

He looked miffed to be interrupted. "We have another fifteen minutes. Besides, I think we're on the edge of a break-through here in terms of your diagnosis."

"But Doctor Hayes!" I raised my voice as I panicked.

He ignored me and continued on with his thoughts. My heart raced impossibly fast as sweat trickled down the back of my neck. Deidara scooted closer and gently brushed my shoulder-length ebony hair from off my shoulder. "What's your hurry?" He murmured. "You don't want to miss this…trust me." I gasped as his lips brushed against my neck. I struggled against the confines of the strait jacket but he just laughed at me.

Then he pointed right at the therapist. A clay centipede crawled out of his hand and made its way across the floor towards the unsuspecting doctor. I cried out. "Doctor Hayes! Look out!"

He blinked as I caught him off guard. "What is it?"

"There's something crawling up your leg!"

He looked down and brushed off his pants, his hand went right through the deadly centipede. He frowned at me severely. "See, that is part of your problem. You're so lonely that you're desperate for attention. But you must understand that harming people won't ease your heartache-"

I opened my mouth to protest but Deidara spoke first. "Oh c'mon Cassie-chan. We've been through this so many times now. You know he won't listen to you; no one ever listens to you."

I looked at him desperately. "Why are you doing this?"

He smirked deviously. "Do I need a reason?"

I looked over at the doctor. Now the centipede was wrapped around his leg. I leaned forward and then caught myself. "You won't do anything if I don't do anything."

His smirk twisted into a cruel smile that made his boyish features look devilish. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

The therapist suddenly cried out in pain. He grabbed his left leg as the centipede tightened his grip.

"Doctor Hayes!" I panicked as the centipede crackled with explosive energy. It glowed and I lost all restraint. I threw myself forward as it started the initial explosion. I knocked the startled therapist off his leather armchair and landed on top of him. My sleeves mercifully loosened and I clawed at his leg as I desperately tore the centipede off and threw it away.

It faded away in mid air and I heard Deidara laugh behind me. "That's my girl," he praised scornfully as he too started to disappear.

"What have you done?!" The therapist screamed as he shoved me back. He grabbed his leg, the pants leg was shredded and his leg was bleeding profusely. He pointed an accusing finger at me. I looked down to see a bloody knife in my hands. I was framed again. Curse them!

I quickly dropped it and held up my hands defensively. "I know this looks bad but trust me. I didn't-!"

He didn't listen to me. They never do. He scrambled backward as he summoned security. Within seconds four muscular men pinned me down roughly. I thrashed as I begged them to listen to me. I was searched before the session and was clean, surely they remember that! I was innocent! But they ignored me as they sedated me and I fell unconscious.

When I woke up I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I sat up and cradled my aching head in my hands. "Why? Why does this keep happening to me? WHY?!" I threw back my head as I screamed at the top of my lungs. To my surprise there was no echo. I opened my eyes and gasped as I realized that I was in a room with padded walls. This was the maximum-security wing where the worst criminals were kept. I stumbled towards the door; my legs were still weak after the sedation. I beat my trembling fists against the door. "I shouldn't be here! It was an accident! I didn't hurt Doctor Hayes! I saved his life!"

Silence…deafening silence. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor and cried bitterly. Why am I the only one who can see them? Could it be true? Have I really lost my mind? I cried myself to sleep.

There was no food or drink delivered to my cell, no doubt a punishment for my supposed crime against the therapist. My stomach ached and my mouth went dry. In this windowless room day and night had no meaning and I lost track of time. How long have I been left here? Three, maybe four days? Surely they weren't going to let me starve to death!

Then suddenly the door opened and a man stood in the doorway. "Its time," he said in a deep authoritative voice.

I was too weak to get up and he grabbed hold of my arm and wrenched me to my feet. I gasped at the pressure and tried to pull away. Then I froze when I recognized his face…and those familiar Rinnegan eyes…

A/N: This is a collaborative story with my friend Nyght Elf. We've helped each other with separate stories in the past but this is our first time working together on one. I look forward to it! And be sure to check out her fanfic page for other great Naruto fanfics.